Lake is up, but officials can't relax yet

An abundance of rainfall during the early part of winter has resulted in Normandy Reservoir meeting its operating guide for the first time in two years.

But the region isn't out of the woods yet when it comes to the dry weather, with the National Weather Service saying the area is still experiencing a drought.

When it comes to the operations of Normandy Dam, March is the month when the flow of water is slowed from the reservoir to allow the level of the lake to rise to the summer pool level of 875 feet above sea level.

Doug Murphy, director of the Duck River Agency, said Tuesday that having the lake at its current level of nearly 865 feet "is a good thing."

Wet winter

The unexpected wet weather the area experienced in December and January brought the level of Normandy up almost eight feet, according to TVA data, so much so that the lake exceeded its winter pool level and the federal utility had to release water into the Duck River in January to keep it under control.

"That rainfall we had was real critical," Murphy said. "We're starting out at a higher reservoir elevation level than we have had in two years."

And while runoff from this weekend's snowfall should saturate the ground, the coming change in seasons over the next several weeks will result in emerging plants absorbing the moisture, Murphy said.

Snow is usually converted into inches of water by dividing by 10, so if one region of the county received eight inches, that would be the equivalent of 0.8 inches of rain.

"These rains we get in the next six to eight weeks (are) going to be real critical for us," Murphy explained. He said one of the good things is that snow melts slowly, meaning that there will be a continuing amount of runoff into the watershed.

"This will slowly move into the ground water, which will slowly recharge the Duck River," Murphy said.

As long as the flow rate of the Duck River remains at 120 cubic feet per second (cfs) or above at the gauge in Shelbyville, the rate of water from the dam shouldn't rise above the current rate of 50 cfs which TVA maintains during this time of the year.

But if the river comes down, more water from the dam would have to be released to meet the target levels, Murphy said.

According to the operating guidelines for Normandy Lake set by TVA, this water conservation period ends at the first of May, when the utility estimates the lake is supposed to be at summer pool.

Still dry

But while the lake is up to its operating level, the region is still experiencing the impact of a multi-year drought. Much of the state, including Bedford County, has fallen back into the category of "abnormally dry," according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Murphy stated that February was much drier than normal, with just a little over one inch falling at Normandy Dam.

"We're not letting our guard down," when it comes to managing the water in the region, Murphy said. While the National Weather Service said the region was going to see a wetter than normal winter, Murphy explained that we are still in a drought.

"We're still looking at a drier spring and summer, we're not out of it," Murphy said.

"We got some relief and it's been very welcome, it's helped us, but I expect to see a dry summer anyway and we're going to have to manage the water in the reservoir carefully."

Murphy added that the Agency is working with the state on formulating a drought management plan for Normandy Reservoir, which Murphy says he hopes will be released this year.

"We still are addressing drought issues and water shortage use issues and looking at our long term water supplies needs also," Murphy said.